July 26, 2015

In Gaza, hundreds of Palestinians gather outside the UNRWA office in Gaza City to protest the agency’s reduction of services. Off the n. coast, Israeli naval forces fire warning shots at Palestinian fishing boats, causing no damage or injuries. In the West Bank, IDF troops conduct late-night raids and searches in 1 village each nr. Nablus, Ramallah, and Salfit, confiscating property and arresting 2 Palestinians; patrol during the day in 1 village nr. Ramallah, 3 nr. Hebron, and Tulkarm. Israeli forces arrest 3 Palestinians allegedly selling fireworks in a village nr. Qalqilya claiming that they were to be used in attacks on IDF troops. Israeli settlers throw stones at Palestinians nr. Nablus, then Israeli forces intervene and arrest 1 Palestinian.

In East Jerusalem, stone-throwing Palestinian worshippers who spent the night in al-Aqsa Mosque clash with Israeli police at Haram al-Sharif; 10 Palestinians are injured and 6 are arrested. The Palestinians spent the night in the sanctuary in order to circumvent Israeli restrictions on their access today, a Jewish holiday. Later, around 850 Jewish visitors tour the sanctuary under an Israeli police escort. Clashes continue later in the day when as many as 150 Israeli special forces escort 70 right-wing Jewish activists on a tour of the sanctuary; 19 guards from the Islamic Waqf, 2 Palestinian journalists, and 4 Israeli police officers are injured, and 5 Palestinians are detained. Separately, Israeli forces arrest 2 Palestinians on raids in Silwan. (HA, JP, MNA, NYT, TOI, YA 7/26; MNA 7/27; PCHR 7/30)

Israel’s High Court of Justice orders an immediate halt to the construction of 296 settler residences in the Beit El settlement and upholds its order for the demolition of 2 residential buildings in Beit El by the end of 7/2015. Meanwhile, Haaretz reports on an internal IDF document apparently showing that Palestinian residents of Susiya village nr. Hebron have legitimate ownership claims to their village’s land, which supports their efforts to stop the planned evacuation and demolition of their village. (HA, JP, MDW, TOI, WAFA 7/26; YA 7/27)